


He Simply Loves Her

by marigirly



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Angst, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Flowers, Gen, Light Angst, Martin Stein Lives, Minor Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe, Police, Ray Palmer Needs a Hug, Running Away, Slow Burn, Yoga Instructor Nate Heywood, all damien darhk wants is for nora to be happy, minor zari tomaz/nate heywood, previous nate heywood/amaya jiwe, sweet boy ray palmer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-10 09:31:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19903546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marigirly/pseuds/marigirly
Summary: Ray Palmer was about the most average guy who owned a flower shop there ever was. He had nice hair, good friends, a failed tech startup, and a dead fiancee. Meanwhile, Nora Darhk is about as abnormal as it gets. With bad decisions catching up to her, choosing to hide in this flower shop might be her best yet. Maybe this will be the one excuse Ray can use to get out of the blind dates that Nate keeps dragging him on.Flower Shop AU





	1. Prologue

The door creaked open as Officer Lance walked in. A bell rang and a voice from the back yelled, “Coming!” He scanned the shop, for any clues as to where the girl might be. 

From the outside, Ray’s Flowers was just a simple store, located in a simple street in Downtown Starling City. A large glass window with a simple green border showcased the premade arrangements. At the top, there was a plain sign with the flower shop’s name. 

Officer Lance was expecting something similarly bland when he walked in, he was surprised to see crisp white walls and the contemporary style that gave Ray’s Flowers the atmosphere it was acclaimed for. He began to wonder if this was why his daughter, Sara, spent so much time here (which it wasn’t). Thinking back to the exterior of the building, Officer Lance figured that the only real crime was the sheer lack of attention to the storefront when clearly this was a fine establishment on the inside. 

Officer Lance’s brewing internal interior designer was interrupted when a plain-looking man walked into the room. The only thing that stuck out was his clean haircut and his walk, that felt more like a dandy skip.

“Oh, hello officer,” the man said confidently. Though, unknown to the officer, his hands were clammier than ever before and for this nervous guy, that’s saying something.

“Hi, are you the owner of this establishment?”

“Well, my name is Ray, so either some other guy owns this place or I’m the owner, I guess.” He chucked. This man, now revealed to be Ray, began to lose his cool throughout this sentence itself. 

“Do you mind if I ask a few questions? There was a… situation that occurred nearby.”

“That’s fine, can I ask what exactly the situation was.”

“Sorry, I don’t have the clearance to share details of an ongoing investigation,” he apologized. “However, have you seen anything strange pass by? In say the last hour or so?”

“Oh, me? Nothing…” Ray wiped the sweat from his brow. On the inside, he was screaming.

“Okay, I’ll be on my way then. Thank you.” Officer Lance thought about what a waste of time that was, why would a guy who owns a flower shop have anything to hide? The overall store was just so plain, everything had felt useless. This assignment was probably just another bust. “But as long as it brings home the meals,” he thinks, “wait, what am I having for dinner anyway?” Officer Lance drove away from Ray’s Flowers and towards the grocery store to pick up a frozen pizza.

Meanwhile, back in the store. A young lady sits in the back, impatiently peering out of the crack of the storage room door. She listens to the rev of the Officer’s engine, waiting for it to be out of earshot before opening the entire door.

When she enters the studio of the shop, she is quiet, as Ray nervously asks, “So can you tell me why the police showed up at my door?”


	2. She Doesn't Want To Be A Burden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of a strange girl running into his shop, Ray decides to ask some questions. However, is he ready to hear the truth? And is Nora even ready to share?

She tried her best to explain, but from the very beginning no words came out. Only the cough of someone overly dehydrated. Of course, Ray would know. As a former Eagle Scout, he knew that the water was the one thing that could help her, but then again, isn’t that basic knowledge? Yet, his years of scouting couldn’t have prepared him for what she was about to say.

“My name is Nora Darhk… I-… I’m on the run. It’s not that I did something bad, it’s just… it’s… I couldn’t stay.” Ray’s eye widened, confused all the more, but also a little clearer. He understood that feeling of not being able to be in that one place that hurt so much. “I mean, I guess I… I guess I did do something bad, but I didn’t mean for it to happen… No one even got hurt… I…” Nora’s chest began to ache, she couldn’t even think of explaining this to her father let alone a stranger.

Ray looked at her, his anxiety from the police officer’s visit began to melt away. He couldn’t even bear to listen to her, it was too much of a reminder of his griefs. “Nora… It’s okay. I think I understand.” She wanted to respond, but tears began to fall and her cough grew stronger. “Do you… need a place to stay?” She nodded through the salty tears as hiccups began to well up in her chest. “Nora, let’s… let’s sit down. Or maybe you need to lay down, I have a guest room.” Her head was spinning and heart-pounding, all the adrenaline she formerly had was gone.

Earlier, the rush of emotions let her run towards the downtown area, straight into the flower shop. At the time, she could even yell for help. Sitting in the closet, hiding from the officer, she could hold it all in, ensuring she wouldn’t crack and ruin her silence, or worse, her hideout. 

Ray guided her up the steps and through a narrow hallway, into a room with a small mattress. Nora’s body finally decided to quit, seeing a cushion to protect itself. Ray, being the person he is, propped her up, careful to not wake her, and attempted to tuck her into the bed. Perhaps that was the best course of action for now. He turned off the lights, shut the door, and walked down the hall to the bathroom. There, he splashed his face, trying to snap himself out of this state. It all felt like one weird dream. 

He went down to close the store, it was late enough already. As he walked down, he felt like he was seeing the police officer come in for a second time, he could hear himself nervously explaining that nothing happened, it all was too surreal. His eyes wandered around the room, looking at the arrangements from the morning. It felt like he had made them years ago, he was still unsure what was going on, but the past hour had been taking its toll. Ray wanted to work. Wanted to make everything seem okay, but he couldn’t bring himself to. It was too much pressure, having this girl, Nora, stay with him, especially with the police on her tail. Everything was stressing him out, he just wanted to rest. So he walked back up, into his bedroom and tried to sleep. Only, he couldn’t. 

Ray sat hunched over on his bed, thinking, playing with a small cube-like toy. His leg tapped the floor repeatedly, as the clamminess of his fingers only increased the lack of grip he had to the toy. Similar to the lack of grip he had on the situation he found himself in. This wasn’t the first time something strange occurred to him. When he was younger, he had found a lost animal in the woods. He loved Gumball very dearly, feeding him candy bars and watching musicals together. But that friendship shortly ended, when his mother found out, she called animal control, and Gumball was taken away. Young Raymond was furious, every time there was something he loved, it was taken away. He feared the same thing would happen to Nora.

It wasn’t that Ray loved Nora, not yet at least. But she seemed so mysterious, so intriguing. Nora was beautiful. When he finally could take a good look at her during their short-lived conversation, her red lipstick brightened up her entire face. She was so similar to her yet at the same time, drastically different. The hair, the lips, but not the eyes. Nora’s light green eyes were a subtle change from the dark brown he was so used to staring into. Although somewhat her entrance into his life was somewhat frightening, he welcomed the idea of her staying.

Across the hall, however, Nora’s brain was racing. Wait, she was racing. She was running from a dark cloud. The cloud was catching up, she tripped. It wasn’t a cloud, it was Officer Lance. “Don’t share details of an ongoing investigation.” She felt threatened by this statement and ran away again. She wanted to run towards the light, but no, apparently she couldn’t control whatever was happening so she ran right into a wall. A wall of flowers that is.

There she was met with a jungle, with birds cawing out. Yet, it was not a classic squawk that left their beaks, but the sound of sirens. Nora ventured deeper, the dark cloud, or Officer Lance, wasn’t following her anymore. She spotted a pond and ventured closer. From across the pond, she could see a tiger eating the carcass of what seemed like a deer. The tiger looked at her and her skin began to crawl. The tiger’s face was Nora’s father which was both frightening but also gross to witness. Her body started moving on its own. She could see more, the deer was her mother. Nora looked down towards her feet, which were completely submerged in the water. The reflection was her own, at least something made sense. But it was bloodied. She tried to grab the water and wipe it off, but as the water rippled, her reflection turned into the flower shop owner, Ray. Now they were in the shop, Ray was guiding her up the stairs. Now they were kissing. Wait, now they were kissing? Nora tried to stop herself, realizing it was a dream. She screamed in her head to wake up, but nothing was working. When they parted he was a piece of bacon, she cursed herself for not continuing the kiss, realizing that her stomach was beginning to ache. Her body was once again moving on its own, down the stairs into what was regularly the storage room, but in this dream was the kitchen. However, she as reached the door, the smell changed from the salty scent of bacon into a crispy, burnt smell. She didn’t want to open the door, but her hand reached towards it and the black smoke was let out once again. This time, screaming came out as well. She wanted it to stop. After the series of events, she willed herself to wake up. 

Nora woke up feeling funny, her back was on a pillow causing everything to ache a little more. Waking up in an unfamiliar bed wasn’t an uncommon feeling for her, however, it still struck the same it had every other time. She groggily readjusted her clothing. Just because she was on the run, didn’t mean she needed to be a complete disaster. Nora took off her shoes, something she should’ve done before bed. Then, there was a knock on her door. She called out, “Yes?”

“Oh, uh… Can I come in?” Ray nervously asked. “Wait, are you… um… decent?”

“Yes, I’m decent. It’s not like I have anything else to wear,” Nora’s sarcasm was beginning to show in this interaction. The door opened up.

“Well, I brought you some toothpaste. I happened to have a spare toothbrush too. Actually… I have around 50 stored around here. It hasn’t been used, don’t worry, ” Ray rambled on. “If clothes are an issue, I… I have some you can borrow.”

“Women’s clothing? That’s funny Ray, you didn’t strike me as that kind of person.” Ray blushed at the comment and turned away.

Looking at her, he replied, “They’re not mine, they’re… a friend’s. Yes, just a friend’s.”

“Oh, I see. Would she mind?” Nora was a little curious as to who this friend was.

“No, she wouldn’t mind at all. She’s… uh… she’s not in town right now.” Ray began to rub his hands together nervously. “Uh, well, I’m gonna go brush my teeth. The bathroom is next door if you need to use it.” He began to exit, toothpaste and brush in hand.

“Ray, wait.” He turned around, surprised. “Didn’t you say that toothbrush was for me? I mean, I don’t mind sharing toothpaste, well…” 

Ray’s eyes widened looking down at the brush. “Oh, you’re right. I am so sorry. That would be weird. Sorry.” He handed her the toothbrush and paste and quickly exited the room. “I’ll go get you some clothes and brush my teeth for real this time.” Ray flashed his smile. Then, Ray awkwardly tried to close the door slowly to give her some privacy. 

Nora looked down and stared at the toothpaste for a second, reading the ingredients. ‘He sure seems invested in his teeth, no wonder they’re so white,’ she thought. She waited for the sound of running water before opening the door back up. This was her chance to leave before Ray got too invested in her life. She opened the door quietly, almost perfectly, and closing it was similarly silent. She reached the stairs and began heading down. However, what she considered luck ran out on the first step when it made a strong creak.

“Nora! Are you okay?” Ray called out. It stopped her from going all the way down. Nora sighed, he was far too caring. Ray made sure to rinse his toothbrush before exiting the bathroom. “Nora, where are you going? You aren’t leaving are you?” Nora wondered if he truly cared and gave him a questioning look. “I… I’m sorry, you can, of course, go if you want, but I just… thought you would stay. I don’t know, it just felt like you had nowhere else to go and I mean, I have an extra room.” Ray awkwardly pushed back his hair. “I don’t want to pressure you to do anything, it’s just…” Ray wasn’t quite sure why he wanted her to stay so badly, maybe it was just the intrigue of a new person in his life. Or maybe it was because he was so lonely. 

Nora hadn’t really thought her escape all the way through. What seemed like determination from Ray made her reconsider leaving. Nora knew she didn’t have anywhere to go, anyone to turn to, but she didn’t want to be a burden for Ray. She wonders if that’s why she left in the first place, being a burden for someone else had made her feel sick inside. 

“Look it’s not a problem. I think you should stay here.”

“What about the police, Ray? Are you okay with them showing up.” Ray tried to speak up. “What about the costs? I doubt I would be easy on the bank.”

“Nora, listen it’s fine. The police, well, they’re police. And sure, they make me kinda nervous, but money isn’t really an issue for me” Nora wondered if that was true, she wasn’t sure how much a small floral business would make. “I want you to stay.” With that, Nora’s eyes began to water and she just couldn’t hold it in. She wasn’t used to hearing that someone was okay with her, that she wasn’t a burden. “It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay. Um… Why, why don’t we maybe get off the steps.” He guided her back up the stairs to what could be considered her room. “I’m gonna grab those clothes, it’s okay. Don’t worry.” Nora grabbed onto him, not letting him leave. “What?-” She pulled him into a hug, pressing her tear-stained eyes onto his shirt. “Oh… okay.”

It was at this moment when they both realized their differences in height. Nora was a little bit taller than average, however, Ray’s tall stature left her head coming up to his shoulder. Ray noticed that this was another difference between Nora and the woman he couldn’t get out of his head. She was shorter coming nowhere close his shoulder as Nora did. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying so hard,” Nora tried to apologize as they pulled apart. “I guess, I’m not used to this treatment.”

“It’s all good, um…” Ray looked away, trying to hide his reddened cheeks. “Should I go get those clothes now?” 

“That would be great.” Nora gave a soft smile. This caused Ray, who was looking at her in small glances, to blush even harder. He awkwardly pushed the door out of the way and retrieved the clothing.

“I hope these fit, you’re a little bit… taller than my friend.” Ray awkwardly exited the room once again. “I’m gonna go down and open the shop, we can talk later,” he hollered from down the stairs.

Nora sighed with relief. She was okay with staying for now but remained unsure of how long she would be. Regardless, she felt like now was the first time she could just focus on herself in a while, with no one chasing her and the florist not too worried for her. She went to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. As Nora ran her toothbrush under the water, she looked in the mirror, seeing herself for the first time since she had initially left. It was strange, she felt rough and gross, and sure her face was showing it, but leaving her hair in a braid had kept that less knotted than she expected. Nora was never one to always put her hair up, oftentimes leaving it down had been the best, and easiest, option. But, the braid felt like one of her only good choices in the past few days and she was glad that’s what she chose to do instead.

Somehow, despite the reality being harsh overall, Nora felt much better with her predicament than she had even a few minutes before.


End file.
